The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) have seen rapidly growing volumes of calls and any move to a three-digit national suicide prevention hotline will likely mean those growth rates accelerate, meaning such a hotline needs to be paired with increased capacity to deal with the calls. That's according to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Department of Veterans Affairs officials at Thursday's North American Numbering Council (NANC) meeting.
FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson ripped proposals to break up big tech platforms, as suggested by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and some others (see 1903180058). “I reject attempts to short-circuit the traditional process and simply assume a problem and impose a preordained solution,” Wilson said at a Computer and Communications Industry Association event Thursday.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is considering ways to advance his Secure 5G and Beyond Act (S-893), including plans to meet with Rivada, which favors the U.S. government making spectrum being reserved for 5G available to carriers on wholesale. President Donald Trump's re-election campaign commented in favor of such an approach earlier this year but later walked back amid perceptions it was in conflict with the White House's existing 5G policy (see 1903040058). The Senate Commerce Committee is moving to quickly advance the Eliminate From Regulators Opportunities to Nationalize the Internet in Every Respect (E-Frontier) Act (S-918), which Sens. Ted Cruz. R-Texas, and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., refiled Wednesday, as expected (see 1903050069).
The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee apparently disappeared after 14 years, said to be caught up in administration politics. Former members and government officials said NTIA Administrator David Redl isn’t to blame. Redl had written a list of questions for a new CSMAC and sent names to the Commerce Department months ago, where the list ran into broader political concerns, the officials said. Redl declined to comment. Meanwhile, the administration is working on a comprehensive, long-term national spectrum strategy (see 1810250018).
The telecom industry lined up against a California anti-robocalls bill but couldn’t stop a Senate panel from passing the bill by wide margin at a Wednesday hearing. A state patchwork would slow a national effort, said cable, wireless and wireline lobbyists. Similar bills to crack down on caller ID spoofing, which have seen bipartisan groundswell this year (see 1902150048), moved forward in Arkansas and Mississippi.
Though it's not clear how much midband spectrum 5G will require, the U.S. is clearly lagging compared with midband availability in other nations, said CTIA President Meredith Baker at a Media Institute event Wednesday. When we asked her what's needed at minimum, she said the possibility of 180 MHz from the C band, as proposed by the C-Band Alliance (CBA), and 70 MHz from the 3.5 GHz band would still leave the U.S. 50 MHz shy of the global average of what other nations have dedicated to 5G.
The FTC’s upcoming study of ISP data collection practices is the right step (see 1903260072), lawmakers told us. Some want big tech companies also under the microscope. An FTC spokesperson confirmed the study is related to Chairman Joe Simons’ response to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., (see 1903200073).
NTIA Administrator David Redl said it’s too early to tell whether uncertainty over spectrum rights in the 24 GHz band could mean lower prices in the ongoing auction, as some suggest (see 1903220055). The FCC is similarly looking at selling spectrum licenses that would have to provide protections for DOD incumbents in the 37 GHz band. Gross proceeds were $1.59 billion Wednesday in the 24 GHz auction.
A draft NPRM on the USF budget asks some questions that concern stakeholders inside and outside the FCC. Others welcomed a look at the program's spending, since it has been some time since this area was examined through such a proceeding. The NPRM circulated Tuesday to commissioners asks many questions, isn't overly long and doesn't draw tentative or other conclusions, agency officials told us Wednesday. Some saw signals of where an eventual order might go in the NPRM's questions. They fear the potential for eventual spending curbs via what could be the first-of-a-kind-cap.
Compromise legislation updating EU copyright law cleared the European Parliament Tuesday and goes to the European Council (governments) for final adoption. The 348-274 vote culminated years of debate and fierce lobbying, especially over articles 11 and 13. The former would grant news publishers a new right covering digital use of their content; the latter would require online platforms to obtain licenses for copyright-protected works uploaded by their users and monitor for infringements (see 1902130059). The vote brought cheers from content owners, jeers from consumer groups, the tech sector and digital rights activists.